Leigh Bartlett takes CFO role at Williams & Glyn

ROYAL Bank of Scotland yesterday announced the appointment of a chief financial officer at Williams & Glyn, the new challenger bank it is selling next year to help boost UK competition, particularly in small business lending.

Leigh Bartlett joins the new challenger bank at the start of September. Picture: Contributed

Leigh Bartlett is to join the business on 1 September, subject to regulatory approval, having spent four years as CFO of Westpac New Zealand bank.

Williams & Glyn is being created from the sale of about 300 branches by RBS, ordered by the European Union as a condition of the Scots parent’s state bailout.

Before his time with Westpac, Bartlett held senior UK banking and corporate finance roles with RBS, Alliance & Leicester, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG.

He said: “I look forward to playing a leading role in building a vibrant UK challenger bank in Williams & Glyn. [It] has a proud heritage of customer service, which reaches back to the 1700s. The new bank will draw on this and be a positive and powerful addition to the UK banking sector.”

Simon McNamara, RBS chief administrative officer, said Bartlett would “bring a wealth of experience”.